14 Kilometers away from Red Ribbon Headquarters
Yamcha held the aircraft's speed at its maximum, aimed directly at the infamous Red Ribbon Army headquarters. Oolong was cowering in the very back while Pu'ar stood firm with his partner in crime. Muten Rōshi sat expressionless but was worried beneath his facade. Bulma was visibly nervous, several beads of sweat rolling down her scalp, and Blonde Lunch - as to be expected - was excited with a devilish smirk plastered across her face. The compound soon came into view and everyone tried to steel themselves.
"Alright, land us on that highway over there," Lunch ordered, gesturing to the asphalt strip down below.
"Why there?" Yamcha inquired.
"Air defense systems," Lunch answered with a click of her tongue. "Bulma sent out a little spy drone and it got popped by a missile not 2 seconds after entering the airspace."
"Very compelling point," Yamcha nervously nodded as he began to land his jet along the road below. The landing skids deployed and with a dying whir, the engines were shut off and the main hatch opened for everyone to disembark. The ex-bandit drew out his trusty scimitar while Lunch turned on the laser sights for her UZI and cocked her magazine into place. "Here goes nothing."
"We'll need a plan though!" Rōshi suggested sternly. "Charging into that place would be reckless."
"Gotta agree with the master on that one," Lunch nodded as she clicked various capsules and tossed them at various members of the team.
In front of Bulma was an armored hovercycle with twin machine gun mounts at the front. At Pu'ar's feet was a scoped pistol with a silencer on the barrel. Oolong was given a pump shotgun with a holster of shells grafted to the side.
"I'd give the chrome domes and the Tusken Raider something," Lunch explained, earning an indignated look from the aforementioned chrome domes, but a chuckle from said Tusken Raider. "But I dunno how the former two's aim is, and the bandit's got his sword."
"Why do I have a weapon?!" Oolong shouted. "I never agreed to any of this!"
"Have you considered pulling your own weight for once?!" Bulma snapped, her trademark fury unleashed. "I'm not a fighter and yet I decided to come along!"
"B-But I have a stomach ache! OOOH OW!" Oolong began to whine as he hunched over, clutching his stomach.
"And you have a doctor's note I bet?!" Bulma sarcastically retorted.
"How about both of ya shut up and let's storm that base!" Lunch interrupted, her own brand of fury quelling the argument while Oolong reluctantly picked up his shotgun. "Now, as for the plan of attack-"
"Bulma and Lunch will take off their tops to distract the soldiers," Rōshi suggested with a perverted grin, only for said grin to fade to a frown when Lunch smacked the old hermit with the butt of her UZI. "OW! It was just a joke! Jeez!"
"When you're training to keep that nonsense under control?!" Bulma added, livid the hermit suggested such a thing.
"Stow the jokes and take this seriously damnit!" Lunch snarled between her teeth, staring at the Kame-Sennin with welling fury, causing the old man to retreat back. "Just for that, you and Kuririn get to draw their fire. I'll take down the goons on ground level while the floating cat snipes from afar. Bulma'll take that hoverbike and-"
"Hey! Something's coming this way!" Kuririn exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
"Pu'ar! Capsulize the plane!" Yamcha ordered as the group began to hide in the trees.
"Got it!" The floating cat complied as he pressed a button on the side of the aircraft, and with a 'POI,' returned to its more portable packaging.
"Man, I hope we weren't spotted," Yamcha muttered as he looked up at the sky from behind his tree. He looked up and noticed a small speck getting closer, and behind it was a yellow contrail and an unusually delightful whirring sound as it approached. "Wait a sec…"
"Is that…" Kuririn muttered out as he looked in the same direction as Yamcha.
"It is!" Rōshi confirmed as he looked. "Those two are still alive!"
The entire crowd cheered as they called up at the cloud to get its attention. Sure enough, Kinto'un's course had changed and Gokū and Caulifla smiled wide to see their friends here.
"Oh hey guys!" Gokū called out, glad to see everyone again. "What're you all doing here?"
"What do you mean 'what are we doing here?'" Bulma retorted, now visibly annoyed.
"We saw you two were heading to the Red Ribbon HQ by yourselves," Kuririn elaborated. "We came to help."
"Bulma's little spy drone I bet?" Caulifla deduced, earning a nod from said lavender-haired genius.
"Well in any case, you were wise to decide to not go through with it!" Yamcha said, relieved that the two were here and not there.
"Not go through with it?" Gokū retorted, mildly confused at what Yamcha was suggesting. "We already took care of business there."
"Aaaand we got our Dragon Ball collection up to 6 now!" Caulifla added, presenting said relics with fanfare.
"H-Hold up!" Kuririn stammered. "You're telling us that you two, all by yourselves, took down the ENTIRE Red Ribbon Army…?"
"Yep" The two answered in unison, causing the entire group to look upon them with stupefied expressions.
"Aw damnit!" Lunch shouted. "I wanted to kick some ass!"
"Caulifla here came up with a cool spin on your Kamehameha, Muten Rōshi!" Gokū exclaimed, still giddy at how his friend did it. "And I was able to pull off the Bankoku Bikku Rishō! That zappy move that Jackie Chun used against me during the Tenka'ichi Budōkai."
"Uh, Pu'ar?" Yamcha muttered. "Could you go take a quick peek over at that base?"
"Uh, sure," Pu'ar nodded, still dumbfounded. The little blue cat then flew off to investigate.
"Y-You two squirts never cease to amaze me," The Kame-Sennin stammered. "Perhaps you could demonstrate that spin-off at some point?"
"I don't see why not," Caulifla shrugged.
"It's true!" Pu'ar cried out on his return. "The base is absolutely wrecked!"
"Not even the world armies could beat them…" Bulma muttered, almost refusing to believe it. "And yet these two…"
"Oh, Master Karin says hi," Gokū added, earning a shocked expression from Muten Rōshi.
"M-Master Karin?!" Rōshi stammered, hearing that name for the first time in a long time.
"Yep!" Caulifla confirmed with a nod. "We both climbed that big totem pole and drank the Choshinsui!"
"Remarkable!" The old hermit exclaimed. "That explains how you bested the Red Ribbon so easily." 'no point mentioning it took me 3 years to get that water…'
"Um, excuse me, which way is the nearest bus station?"
The group was broken from their conversation to turn and see two strangers. One was a woman with long, curly auburn hair and a lab coat, the other was a tall, muscular man with red hair cut into a mohawk, along with a little brown sparrow happily perched on his right shoulder.
"Oh hey!" Gokū greeted the two, remembering the taller one. "Glad you got out of there! Though I never caught your name."
"Gebo," The man introduced himself flatly. "And thanks for the warning."
"My name's Dr. Checka," The woman introduced herself with a small bow. "And I'm glad we put that organization behind us for good."
"Ooh, Dr. Checka!" Bulma squealed, seeing a renowned scientist before her. The lavender-haired genius rushed over to aggressively shake the hand of the former Red Ribbon scientist. "I'm Bulma! I've read your work on biomechanics, and I gotta say I'm a big fan!"
"O-oh uh, thanks," Checka sheepishly chuckled as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Ah, fellow traitors!" Lunch exclaimed with a smile. "What made you jump ship? Was it these two storming the base? Some jackass in command?"
"My husband," Checka answered morosely.
"Dr. Gero, from what we gathered, was not good company," Caulifla added, her tone sympathetic for the new arrivals.
"Hold on a sec," Bulma interrupted, putting a pause to the conversation. "Dr. Gero? As in 'world class robotics scientist' Dr. Gero? I heard he went missing, but-"
"He was an ambitious man," Checka interrupted, her tone still sullen. "Too ambitious. He signed up with the Red Ribbon Army to further his research, dragging us along, but as time went on, he began to slip further into insanity."
"These two encountered Android 8 at Muscle Tower," Gebo explained. "One of my father's creations, written off as a failure for being too docile. That's how they knew about us."
The group nodded at this information while Checka nervously fidgeted with a lock of her hair, averting eye contact from the group. "I… may have had a hand in Android 8's behavior," Checka mumbled. This caught the attention of everyone present, Gokū and Caulifla especially, as they were wide-eyed with surprise at what the auburn-haired woman had just said. "Gero tasked me with configuring the neural network of his next android model, and… I guess I wanted to disrupt the Red Ribbon's plans, given their reputation and all."
"So you made Eighter a good guy?" Gokū summarized, in awe at what this lady had done. "That's amazing! I think the folks at Jingle Village would be happy to know that!"
"Um… Eighter?" Checka repeated, somewhat confused.
"A nickname Gokū came up for the guy," Caulifla explained with a warm smile. "I guess we should thank you for putting the finishing touches on a good friend."
"Oh, I just remembered!" Gokū exclaimed as he rummaged through his backpack and pulled out the Dragon Radar. "Bulma, could you check up on the radar?"
"Hm? Sure," Bulma shrugged as she took the radar from the boy's hand. "Still didn't find your heirloom ball yet?"
"No, I found it," Gokū answered. "We're gathering all 7 now for a friend we met at Karin Sanctuary. His father was killed by an assassin, and we want to call upon Shenlong to resurrect him."
"Hm! A truly noble cause lad!" Rōshi hummed with delight.
"So, do you think you broke it again?" Bulma asked as she looked at the radar.
"No, I don't think that's it," Gokū answered. "6 Dragon Balls show up on the screen, but the 7th won't appear."
"Hm," Bulma hummed. She gave the device a click and true to Gokū's words, 6 of the 7 were visible, regardless of how she adjusted the zoom dial. "I'd hazard a guess that something swallowed it."
"Swallowed it?" both monkey children repeated in unison.
"An alligator, hippopotamus, maybe even a whale for all we know, could've just up and gulped it. The unique electromagnetic signal given off by the Dragon Balls can be blocked by thick organic material."
"Well, we could wait for nature to run its course then?" Yamcha suggested with a nervous chuckle. "Of course it'll need a thorough washing after that. Along with whoever finds it."
"Is he suggesting-"
"He's suggesting we wait for whatever ate it to shit it out," Lunch interrupted Caulifla bluntly, earning several looks of varying disgust from the group, including Checka and Gebo.
"Aw darn," Gokū muttered sullenly. "And we're so close."
"Guess I won't get to see this dragon after all," Caulifla sighed as she slumped her shoulders. Deep down she felt bad that Upa's father would stay dead.
"If I may, there might be another way to find it," Rōshi spoke up. "Perhaps you could seek out the palace of Uranai Baba - The All-seeing Crone."
"The what?" Several members of the group asked in staggered succession. Gokū and Caulifla's collective spirits brightened up immediately.
"Uranai Baba has the power to divine the location of any lost object," Rōshi elaborated. "Clairvoyance at its finest."
"Clairvoyance, as in fortune telling?" Bulma mused. "Knowing you, you're talking about the real deal and not those scam artists on TV."
"Hoho! Certainly not!" the Kame-Sennin chuckled. "Anyone got a map?"
"Right here, sir," Yamcha said as he pulled out a rolled-up map.
Everyone huddled around the map Yamcha laid out as Muten Rōshi gestured his finger across the paper, trying to discern the location of this palace.
"Let's see…" Rōshi hummed as he trailed his finger across the map. "No, uh, She's right over, um… Right Here."
"Desert, eh?" Yamcha muttered with a smirk. "Familiar terrain. I can get us there no problem."
"Before we go, we'll need some new clothes," Caulifla spoke up, gesturing to the torn and singed clothing she and Gokū were wearing. "Can we swing by a tailor first?"
"Good call," Rōshi nodded. "You wouldn't want to speak with Baba without looking presentable."
"We also might also need a bigger plane if Checka and Gebo are coming along," Bulma added.
"Don't worry, I got those two covered," Yamcha dismissed as he drew out his capsule case. He pulled out a capsule, clicked and tossed it, and from the 'POI' was a hovercar. "They can borrow this."
"O-Oh! Thank you sir," Checka bowed. "Though, we wouldn't know where to go."
"Capsule Corp?" Bulma suggested with a shrug. "Your son could work with our security team if he's inclined, plus we have a Biomechanical Research division along with several other miscellaneous departments. It's like an R&D candyland."
"Candy?!" Checka exclaimed, her eyes wide and a dribble of saliva rolling out of her smiling mouth. She quickly realized what she was doing and recomposed herself, along with wiping the saliva off her chin. "S-Sorry, I uh, have a bit of a sweet tooth."
"That's fine. We won't judge," Bulma waved off with a light chuckle. "In the meantime, you guys wanna tag along for the trip?"
Gebo shrugged his shoulders while Checka nodded. "It would be a nice change of pace," The woman added. "We could also use a stop at the tailors as well."
"I saw a town not too far away during our trip here," Yamcha suggested. "Let's see if there's something there."
Everyone nodded as they boarded their vehicles - Gokū and Caulifla aboard Kinto'un, Checka and Gebo on Yamcha's borrowed hovercar, and the rest piling into Yamcha's plane. Following the ex-bandit's aircraft, the group made their way to the settlement picked out.
Tailor Ford's Clothing Shop
Everyone looked at the outfits both Gokū and Caulifla were wearing, and were trying their hardest not to burst into a fit of laughter. Gokū was in golf clothes with a hat that was too big for his head, while Caulifla was dressed in a pretty pink tutu. Eventually everyone's composure faltered and everyone laughed at how utterly ridiculous the two looked, much to their mounting annoyance, Caulifla moreso.
"I'm guessing by the looks on your faces, this is not what you had in mind?" The tailor asked, the only calm person in this room.
"I feel ridiculous…" Gokū grumbled.
"You feel ridiculous?!" Caulifla snapped. "I look like a reject from some terrible school play!"
Those comments earned even more laughter from the group. "Maybe Uranai Baba will take pity on you two and throw in a fortune on your guys' love life!" Kuririn joked mid laugh. Caulifla's face immediately flushed red and she launched a pulled sucker punch at the monk's shiny head, sending him flying out through the double doors.
"Can we get something like we were wearing before?" Gokū asked the tailor.
"Sure," The man shrugged. "I can have your pattern done in about half an hour. You want to keep the encircled turtle kanji on the back, yes?"
"Yeah. There was also one on the front where that big hole is. Oh, and can you add a hole in the back for my tail?"
"I'd like the same pattern, but with purple instead of orange," Caulifla added. "And make the undershirt pink please."
"I can do that," The tailor nodded with a smile. The pattern is fairly simple, so it shouldn't take more than an hour."
The tailor got to work with his commission. Meanwhile Kuririn waddled through the double doors looking rather annoyed and with a large bump on his head. "Still can't take a joke!" The monk snapped, earning the group's laughter redirected at Kuririn, much to the monk's chagrin.
"Alright, I'm getting back in my old outfit," Gokū said, heading towards one of the changing partitions, while Caulifla did the same for her own. About a minute later, Gokū and Caulifla were back in their old respective gis and out of the absurd get-ups that were suggested to them.
"Well, we got an hour to wait. What should we do?" Kuririn asked.
"Could hang by the saloon for a bit," Yamcha suggested with a shrug.
"How about we get Upa while we wait?" Gokū offered. "I'm sure he'll be happy to hear our progress."
"Alright," Caulifla nodded before she pulled out one of the Dragon Balls and handed it to Yamcha. "Hold this please."
"Huh?" was all Yamcha could say in his confusion.
"Just in case we get lost, right?" Gokū surmised, earning a nod from Caulifla, followed by a drawn out 'ooooh' from Yamcha. "Alright, we'll be back soon!"
With that, the duo boarded Kinto'un and sped off to retrieve their friend. Yamcha simply leaned against the outside wall of the saloon until a very loud and abrupt sneeze caught his attention. Looking over at the source, the blonde-haired woman was gone, replaced by a woman with navy blue hair, and matching eyes in place of the harsh green ones he was used to seeing. In addition, she was wearing a large 20 kilogram shell over her back and sat seiza, holding her hands in a meditative state. Seconds passed before a small blue sphere of ki manifested between her hands.
"No way," Yamcha muttered in astonishment.
"Way," An aged voice confirmed from behind Yamcha, said voice belonging to Muten Rōshi. "Lunch has been training with the Turtle School shortly after the conclusion of the Tenka'ichi Budōkai. She hasn't progressed as quickly as Gokū, Caulifla, or even Kuririn, but she is making decent progress. Hell, even Bulma's giving the regimen a whirl."
"Wait-What?!" Yamcha stammered, staring at the Kame-Sennin in pure disbelief. "Bulma of all people started training under you?! Without me?!"
"Hohoho! Easy lad!" Rōshi chuckled. "Truth be told, she and Lunch are helping me with training of my own. You remember Jackie Chun from the Budōkai, yes?"
"The guy who zapped Gokū but got duped because he was a pervert? That was a highlight second to Gokū's showdown with Caulifla."
"Yes, I'm sure," Rōshi said, his tone laced with mild annoyance. The hermit then leaned in for a whisper. "Gokū and Caulifla already figured it out, and don't tell anyone about it, but Jackie Chun was me."
"I KNEW IT!" Yamcha shouted, before Rōshi swiftly covered the man's mouth and shushed him. "Sorry…"
The old hermit cleared his throat. "So yeah. I've been trying to keep myself under control. Tell ya what? If you're interested, I'll train you once this whole quest is over."
"Really? I thought you were super selective of your students."
"I was, but even this old bag of bones can have his mind swayed."
The conversation went along for a while between the bandit and hermit. Lunch continued her ki control exercises until she accidentally sneezed and decided to halt her efforts there. Kuririn was sat on the porch railings of the saloon with an orange soda in hand, while Oolong was out and about causing mischief, with Pu'ar trying to put an end to the swine's shenanigans. Checka and Gebo picked out some travel clothes and picked up some other supplies all while Bulma was tinkering about with some capsulized projects she brought along for the journey. Eventually an hour passed and the tailor stepped out of his shop.
"They're ready!" The man called out, only to see no sign of the duo. "Where'd they go?"
"They went to go pick up a friend of theirs," Yamcha answered. "They should be back in a few moments."
True to Yamcha's words, Kinto'un descended from the sky, its yellow contrail ever welcome, and disembarking from the cloud were Gokū, Caulifla, and Upa.
"Hi guys!" Gokū called out as Kinto'un took to the skies again. "This is Upa."
"H-Hello everyone," The tribe boy bowed nervously. "Nice to meet you all."
Kuririn leaned in for a whisper to Gokū. "She's kinda cute," The monk said in a hushed voice.
"Dude," Caulifla said flatly, trying her damndest to not laugh. "Upa's a boy."
"O-Oh… I knew that..." Kuririn muttered from embarrassment.
"And that's how you were before you met me, tenfold," Caulifla jeered at Gokū, who frowned at the remark, but couldn't help but stifle a chuckle at how right she was.
The duo gladly took their ready clothes and looked for a secluded place to change. Once they emerged, they took a moment to admire their newly crafted clothes.
"The purple and pink suits you," Gokū complimented his friend, who smiled warmly with a light blush.
"Are we all set to go?" Yamcha called out. Everyone stepped forward and nodded - Oolong being the only reluctant one. "Alright, All aboard then!"
The group boarded their respective vehicles, Upa opting to fly in Yamcha's plane, and they took off to find the palace of Uranai Baba to find the 7th Dragon Ball.
Ruins of Red Ribbon Headquarters
It was eerily silent at the now derelict compound of the Red Ribbon Army. What was once a center of military might and organization was demolished in an afternoon by two children on the warpath. Any soldiers that did not die in the onslaught fled the complex for their lives. In the middle of the courtyard was the smoking ruin of Commander Black's battle jacket, the glass windscreen that was shattered now obscured by the mech's massive forearm. Suddenly, the large metal appendage budged with a metallic shriek. It budged again, and again, until a foot connected to a long leg finally kicked the offending limb aside. Crawling out was Commander Black, looking much worse for wear and was coughing up a storm due to the engine smoke.
"Damn… Those brats!" Commander Black swore in between coughs. "Damn that cyclopean son of a bitch for leading this entire organization to literal ruins! DAMN THEM ALL!"
The disgruntled commander brought himself to his feet and limped to the research wing to find a medical kit. Upon entering the structure, he was accosted by an aging man with long white hair, a shotgun in his hands.
"Stay back!" Dr. Gero shouted. "I'm warning you right now!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Black said, raising his hands defensively. "I'm just looking for a medkit, Doctor."
"Oh, Staff Officer Black," Gero calmed down as he put away his shotgun. "I'm surprised you're still alive. Where's your little master?"
"Dead," Black answered flatly. "He spilt the beans on his plans for the Dragon Balls, and I decided to… remove him for ill judgement."
"So you killed him and took over," Gero surmised. "You managed to beat me to the punch."
"Your plans to take over weren't lost on me, Doctor," Commander Black retorted. "Though if it's any consolation, any efforts to take over would've been justified. That shrimp planned to use the Dragon Balls to give himself a growth spurt."
"Why am I not surprised?" The doctor rolled his eyes.
"Well, the Red Ribbon Army as we know it is dead. Our entire infrastructure is collapsed and all of our top operatives are dead, incapacitated, or otherwise deserted."
"So it would seem. Luckily for me, I've planned for such contingencies."
"Whatever helps me to get payback against those runts."
"Well get in line," Gero growled dangerously. "Those brats thwarted my chances to take over and robbed me of my family."
"Perhaps you could use a lab assistant?" Commander Black offered with a grin.
Gero's mustache twitched for a moment before morphing into a smile. "So long as our goals are mutual, very well," The doctor accepted before his gaze harshened. "But you had better pull your weight, or I will end you in ways you couldn't even imagine."
"I'd be lying if I didn't expect such agreements," Commander Black nodded, his smirk deepening.
"Then we are in agreement. Let us salvage what is useful and leave this disgraced compound."
The two Red Ribbon officers proceeded to inspect the rubble of the ruined complex, searching for any and all useful equipment that could be salvaged, repurposed, or if nothing else, pawned off. Gero gathered the various notes around the laboratory, including a roll of blueprints that was labeled I-E-G and a phial of green liquid with the label "C" taped to it. Gently, the doctor stored them away in a reinforced tool case and left the laboratory behind him.
"These will be your undoing, Son Gokū and Caulifla…"
Uranai Baba - Fortuneteller Baba
A/N: CHAPTER 20! 100,000+ WORDS! MILESTONES APLENTY! *ahem.* This was a fun one to write, and I'd like to say thank you to those who have been reading up to this point and leaving reviews.
So, this is an intermission between the Red Ribbon's destruction and the Baba arc, the latter of which by the way, I am looking forward to writing, as I have plans in store for how I'll deal with that chestnut, and I'm not just talking about the monk :P Regarding the story, Gebo and Checka - the pre-android persons of 16 and 21 respectively - are now with the main crew, and while I am not a fan of 21's pastry fetish, (shudder) I still felt compelled to at least give Checka a major sweet tooth.
Regarding the Dr. Gero bit, for anyone wondering and/or confused, no, he was not in OG Dragon Ball, and in Z, where Goku said he spared Gero specifically, that was the dub mistakenly filling in the gaps. That said, he won't be working alone, as the butterfly wings of Chaos Theory be flapping. Hope this was a fun read, and leave a review and share your thoughts. :)